Telecommunications equipment is typically stored in racks in a stacked and/or side-by-side configuration within a building such as a central office. The various pieces of equipment may appear identical on the exterior but each piece of equipment has a dedicated function within a telecommunications system. When a particular piece of equipment must be repaired, replaced, or serviced in some other manner, a technician must access the correct device to prevent disturbing other telecommunications services provided by the adjacent equipment. However, this can be confusing and time consuming because of densely populated and indistinguishable devices.
To assist the technician in finding the correct piece of equipment, maps of equipment are often maintained so that each device has a grid location. The technician finds the grid location for the equipment of interest from the map and then approaches the device at the particular grid location previously found. However, the reference map may contain errors or the technician may interpret the grid locations incorrectly when approaching the equipment. In either case, the technician may inadvertently begin servicing the incorrect device resulting in a loss of service. Meanwhile, the device that is intended to receive maintenance remains unaddressed.